PROJECT SUMMARY Bangladesh, a country with a lower middle income economy of South Asia, has been experiencing a demographic and epidemiological transition with rapid urbanization and globalization and a gradual increase in life expectancy. In 2002, WHO estimated that about 140,000 Bangladeshis died due to coronary heart disease, which is the leading cause of death in Bangladesh and 70,000 people died of cerebrovascular (or stroke) events, which is the leading cause of sustained disability in Bangladesh. Despite a high disease burden of cardiovascular Diseases (CVD) and death in Bangladesh, there is very little understanding of the underlying population risks and strategies for prevention and treatment of CVD, and shortage of investigators who are able to conduct health-related research relevant to CVD. icddr,b is an internationally renowned organization in Bangladesh and offers an exceptional multi-disciplinary research environment in which scientists and health professionals cooperate on research, treatment, training and policy development. icddr,b proposes to adopt a sustainable strategy for developing scientific expertise and local skills to conduct independent research relevant to CVD through the proposed training under this planning program. The outcome of the application will be to plan a larger training grant of D43, which will be implemented by two partnering institutions, icddr,b and University of Chicago, USA. This project will support a series of technical meetings and workshops as well as virtual activities and communication, to promote interactions among faculty and junior researchers. A Steering Committee will evaluate the project biannually to monitor progress and develop new strategies to improve the training plan. These activities will allow trainees to engage in existing work at icddr,b, in order to acquire hands-on experience in the conduct of research in CVD and will also support the development of new research initiatives and grant proposals under D43 planning grant.